The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed an appeal filed by Abba Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police, requesting to have the allegations against him dropped.
Judge Emeka Nwite dismissed the motion on the grounds that, in accordance with the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act, the court has the only authority and jurisdiction to consider drug-related issues.
According to the Judge, Section 251 of the Constitution grants the court the authority to hear the charge and make a decision.
Kyari had informed the court that the charges levelled against him were premature and insisted that the NDLEA ought to have let police exhaust its internal machinery before it instituted the action.
He told the court that the Police had already begun looking into the charges levelled against him and had produced an interim report.
Kyari made it known that he could only be charged in court once the police had concluded their internal investigation.
He stated that similar to the way National Judicial Council (NJC) sanctions judicial officers, the Police Service Commission (PSC) has the authority to investigate and penalize incompetent police employees in accordance with the Police Act and Regulations.
The judge asserted that the authority of the Federal High Court does not exceed that of the Police Service Commission.
Kyari and four IRT officers — ACP Sunday J. Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba, and Inspector John Nuhu — were accused of conspiring to sell 17.55kg of cocaine in front of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Also, they were accused of conspiring to tamper with 21.35kg of cocaine that had been taken from two convicted drug dealers and of trafficking cocaine.
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